Whereas
earlier English wineglasses had paid great attention to the engraving of the
bowls of the glasses, those of the third quarter of the 18th century
saw a marked changed as makers lavished much more attention on the stems,
developing new techniques and a wide range of designs that led to work of great
beauty and delicacy.
This is not
to say that bowl decoration ceased altogether, merely that engraving tended to
be more formal and less individualistic. Makers also became more interested in
the use of gilding and enamelling to add decoration.
There was a
short-lived vogue from about 1750 to 1765 for glasses with incised stems,
possibly made to imitate porcelain designs that were current at the time.
However, these glasses did not become universally popular during a period when
people of taste and refinement wanted style and beauty above all else, and
relatively few such glasses have survived to the present day.
The
innovation that really sparked the imagination of makers and delighted buyers
was the internal twisted stem. Although the outside of the stem was straight
(sometimes with one or more “knops”), columns of air or strands of opaque glass
were inserted and twisted to form what could be a complex and intricate pattern.
Air twists
were made by blowing a narrow column of air down the centre of a stem as it was
turned, thus producing a central “worm”. Opaque twists were made by placing
rods of opaque-white enamel glass upright in a circular mould. Clear glass was
then poured into the mould before all the glass was reheated and drawn out to
the required thickness, the twisting being performed with exact regularity. Up
to 36 individual canes of white glass have been detected in some stems.
The craftsmen
who made these stems became extremely skilled and developed hundreds of
different patterns. These might include the use of up to three different twist
designs within the same stem, the inclusion of coloured glass as well as white,
and the mixing together of air and opaque twists.
The colours
used, which were generally translucent rather than opaque, included yellow,
green, black, lavender, chocolate, orange, turquoise, shades of blue and a wide
variety of reds. The rarest colour seen today is yellow and the commonest combinations
are red and green or red and blue.
However, it
is notable that the use of colour, and of mixed air and opaque twists, was far
less popular with the original customers of these glasses than was standard
opaque twisting. It is possible that the extra complexity made these glasses
too expensive, or it might be that they were considered too garish and
therefore not suitable for refined English tastes. Whatever the reason,
coloured stems were only used in 3% of wineglasses manufactured at this time.
As noted
above, the bowls of late-18th century wineglasses tended to be
either un-engraved or decorated with standard designs such as fruiting vines
or, on larger glasses intended for ale, hops and barley. Commemorative glasses,
inscribed to mark a particular occasion, were much more common earlier in the
century.
The use of
knops, i.e. swellings on the stem, was quite common especially in the earlier
part of the century, with up to four knops being present on a stem. However,
knops tended to distract from appreciation of the more complex twists achieved
in the mid to late 18th century, so are seen less frequently on
glasses produced at that time.
The bowls
could be of many different shapes, with the commonest being round-funnelled or
ogee shaped (i.e. a double curve leading to an outward-facing lip). Decoration
was added by hammering, moulding and fluting.
After the
Excise Act of 1746 glass became more expensive, so the practice of producing a
heavy foot by folding the glass over became less common. Glasses with complex
opaque twists that also had folded feet were only produced to special order and
so are rarely found today. Only 4% of opaque twist glasses have folded feet and
are therefore highly prized by collectors.
Some of the
rarest, and therefore most valuable, wineglasses of this period were gilded or
enamelled. The processes involved required considerable skill and patience and
only a handful of craftsmen (and women) are known who were able to do this. One
of these was Michael Edkins of Bristol, but the name most often associated with
the very best work of this kind is Beilby.
William Beilby was a jeweller and silversmith who moved to
Newcastle from Durham in about 1760. Of his five surviving children, four
became craftspeople, with William junior and Mary specialising in glass
enamelling. Virtually all the superb enamelled Beilby glasses were made between
1762 and 1778, with Mary not being involved in the early years. After 1768,
when Mary was nineteen and ready to start in the family business, the designs
and decoration acquired a decided feminine touch, with scenes including rustic
landscapes, ruins and obelisks.
Unfortunately, Mary suffered a stroke in 1774 and, because
she and her brother had always worked as a pair, the production of enamelled
wineglasses did not continue for much longer, ceasing altogether when the brother
and sister retired and moved to Scotland. No other craftsmen took over when the
Beilbys finished, so all glasses enamelled in the Beilby style can safely be
dated to before 1780.
The 18th century was certainly the golden age of
English glass, with its combination of practicality and delicacy. The
wineglasses produced at this time were greatly treasured, being expensive to
buy and therefore only owned by the wealthier members of society. Their
appreciation of these naturally fragile objects, which would have passed down
through the generations, doubtless explains why a reasonable number have
survived to the present day. Needless to say, the best of these glasses command
very high prices today, with single glasses changing hands for thousands of
pounds.
There are important collections of 18th-century
English wineglasses at several museums, including the Victoria and Albert in
London, the Fitzwilliam in Cambridge and the Ashmolean in Oxford.
© John Welford
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